


Foils in Re:Zero

by Turacoverdin



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Essay, F/M, Gen, Meta, foils
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:01:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28571931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turacoverdin/pseuds/Turacoverdin
Summary: foils in re:zeroprobably don't read this.
Kudos: 31





	Foils in Re:Zero

**Author's Note:**

> here you go i posted it
> 
> this is pretty stupid and gets kind bizarre/repetitive because i was super sleep deprived. that's my excuse.
> 
> this has been written with the assumption that you have very little knowledge of re:zero.

_ INTRODUCTION _

RE:Zero is undeniably one of the most popular anime of the season, and for very good reason. The series does an excellent job of creating psychological horror and exploring the terrifying nature of loneliness. The basic premises of RE:Zero is simple: a teenager finds himself adrift in a fantasy world, and he discovers that he has the ability to return to a specific location and time whenever he dies. The series then expands on this premise, fully diving into the uses of such an ability and the intense ramifications of the experiences that comes with its use. RE:Zero thoroughly subverts its genre with this premise, and it balances the more light-hearted, power-fantasy-esque staples of its genre with psychological horror to create a riveting emotional journey that doubles as a commentary on the human condition and, more specifically, the escapist and isolationist tendencies of teenagers today. Of course, RE:Zero’s impact is not limited to analyses on its horror and themes. One of the categories that generated the most interest at the time of the series’ first release was the relationships between the characters. Subaru, Emilia, and Rem all act as foils for each other, allowing further analysis into their character. Their relationship is often shallowly misinterpreted.

  
  


_ CHARACTERS _

Subaru, Emilia, and Rem are all very well developed characters, with well-developed relationships. To put it simply, Subaru likes Emilia, and Rem likes Subaru. To put it not-simply:

  


_ NATSUKI SUBARU _

Subaru is obsessed with Emilia. This is a fact that is established very early into the series. Subaru’s obsession is not a malignant one. It is the only reason that he remains mostly sane throughout the series. 

Subaru first meets Emilia when she saves his life and when, as she needs assistance in locating a locket, he decides to repay the favor by helping her as well. When this leads to his death multiple times, Subaru ponders whether or not he should cut all ties with Emilia. As any assistance Subaru has provided is reset after his death, and as Emilia was the only person that has assisted Subaru so far in this new world, Subaru decides to continue helping her, regardless of the fact that it has led to his death multiple times.

This is where Emilia becomes Subaru’s main motivation. As time passes and the plot progresses, Subaru learns Emilia’s main goal and decides to help her achieve it. He becomes obsessed with helping her. This obsession makes sense. Subaru needs a goal; without one, his endless loops of death and repetition would become pointless. Subaru’s goal cannot be his own continued existence, as his existence is assured. Thus his goal must center around something external; Emilia and her goals provide the perfect stand-in. Emilia also fits the established narrative of an isekai, which is what Subaru expects.

Subaru quickly becomes dependent on Emilia. This dependency is not mutual; while Subaru is ultimately vital for Emilia to achieve her goals, he is not vital to her mental health. Emilia is vital to Subaru’s mental health. Without her, he quickly succumbs to rage, denial, and despair. Episodes 14 to 18 cover Subaru’s breakdown, which is prompted when Subaru perceives his position with Emilia as threatened, and then triggered when Emilia essentially tells Subaru to stop using her as an excuse for his actions. She chooses to distance herself from him until he can treat her as a person and not as some sort of unattainable goal. While Emilia’s words may seem harsh, especially when one considers how badly Subaru reacted, they were necessary for building a more healthy relationship between Subaru and Emilia.

Subaru is romantically attracted to Emilia, and he is very clear about his intention to pursue a romantic relationship with her. Such a relationship would not be healthy, especially not before Emilia points out Subaru’s flawed actions. Emilia is Subaru’s main and, before episode 18,  _ only _ support system. (Although Subaru makes friends, these friends are either not very supportive (like Ram or Beatrice), or they’ve killed him (like Rem). Beatrice’s role in Subaru’s support is vital, and he often goes to her when he is feeling extremely stressed, but he never actually confides in her. Nor does she ever really attempt to comfort him beyond allowing his presence and interactions.) Any romantic relationship Subaru could have with Emilia would not end well, especially as Emilia is not romantically attracted to Subaru. Emilia acknowledges Subaru’s romantic attraction, and she establishes in the final episode of season 1 that she is not uncomfortable with the attention; if anything, she is flattered by it, and she expresses the desire to eventually return Subaru’s feelings. By the end of season 2 cour 1 of the anime she has not expressed any romantic attraction to Subaru.

  


_ EMILIA _

Emilia is not dependent on Subaru, but she relies on him, both emotionally and to accomplish her goals. In arc 4, Puck, Emilia’s spirit father-figure-slash-friend-slash-cat-’if anything happens to you i’ll kill everyone in the world and then myself’ is noticeably absent. When Subaru exits the sanctuary, leaving Emilia to complete Echidna’s trial-of-trauma alone, Emilia quickly degenerates and falls into a destructive and depressive state (she turns yandere, it’s creepy). One can extrapolate from this that Subaru is the secondary part of Emilia’s support system.

The reason Subaru is important to Emilia is far more straightforward than the reason Emilia is important to Subaru. Emilia has been ostracised and discriminated against because of her race, and is not shown to have any friends at the time of the anime, with the exception of Puck. Rem and Ram are both friendly to Emilia, but their loyalty to her is presumably tied to Roswaal’s loyalty to her. Furthermore, both Rem and Ram serve Emilia as maids in Roswaal’s mansion, complicating their relationship. Beatrice, one of the other residents of the mansion, is not shown to have a relationship with Emilia beyond a mutual approval of Puck. Roswaal is loyal to Emilia, but he’s a creepy bitch so he doesn’t count.

Subaru is the main reason that any of Emilia’s goals are accomplished. His networking skills, while nontraditional, allow him to gain many allies for Camp Emilia. Without Subaru, Emilia and Camp Emilia would not be as involved as they are in current events. Presumably, if Emilia has any chance of impacting public opinion and gaining the public’s trust, it is due to Subaru.

  


_ REM _

Rem is devoted to Subaru. This devotion mostly arises from the fact that Subaru considers her superior to her sister, and from the understanding that Subaru is aware of her demonic origins but does not discriminate against her for it.

Rem had spent the entirety of her life in her sister’s shadow and feeling useless because of it. When she and her sister left the demon tribes, and were employed/kidnapped by Roswaal, Rem’s more mundane talents as a maid became vital. It is obvious that Rem’ and Ram’s personalities were sculpted around their perceived worth to the demon tribe, as Ram is caustic and arrogant while Rem is shy. Presumably Rem’s feelings of inadequacy, grown from her inferiority in the eyes of the demons, are still present.

When Rem first meets Subaru, he professes the opinion that Rem is superior to Ram, as Rem ends up doing many of the maidly duties in the mansion while Ram hangs around and insults people. While this is not the main reason that Rem likes Subaru, it most likely is a part of it.

Rem’s admiration of Subaru is quieter than Subaru’s admiration of Emilia, in that the arc of Rem becoming devoted to Subaru is much more subtle. She accepts him, then grows to admire him, when he fights the mabeasts that are attacking the mansion. Subaru was kind to both Rem and Ram, and he fights desperately to protect Emilia, the mansion, the villagers, and Rem and Ram. He is also very free with his compliments and straightforward with his affection. As Rem was starved of such positive interactions, and as Subaru fights to protect Rem and the people Rem cares about, it is easy to see why Rem grew to love Subaru romantically.

Although Rem is devoted to Subaru, she is not dependent on Subaru. Subaru does not view Rem romantically, and he says so when Rem confesses to him. Rem does not have any sort of obvious or visible mental breakdown. Instead she acknowledges Subaru’s feelings, or lack thereof, and expresses the desire to continue supporting and helping him. Here she becomes Subaru’s secondary support system.

When Rem becomes comatose, Subaru kills himself in the hopes that he will reset to a time when he could stop Rem from becoming comatose. He is unsuccessful, but the fact that he was willing to kill himself to try shows how important Rem is to Subaru—Subaru only actively commits suicide one other time in the show, and throughout the series death is considered a last resort for Subaru. Subaru does not, however, have a complete mental breakdown, the way he did when Emilia put some distance between her and Subaru. While this can be attributed to character development, this at least in part due to the fact that Subaru is not dependent on Rem the way he was, or is, on Emilia.

  


_ FOILS _

Rem and Subaru act as foils for each other, as both are devoted to a person who does not return their level of devotion. Subaru and Emilia act as foils, as both are the subject of another’s devotion, and both do not return the person’s romantic feelings. Emilia and Rem serve as foils, as both were approached by a person that was kind to them and did not discriminate against them.

_ REM AND SUBARU _

Rem is devoted to Subaru and Subaru is devoted to Emilia. For the most part, Rem’s devotion is much healthier than Subaru’s, and Rem is not dependent on Subaru. She loves him, but she does not need him. Subaru loves Emilia, but perhaps more than that, he needs her. Both of their devotions arise from the fact that the other person was unconditionally kind to them, as far as they are aware. When Rem first met Subaru, he was kind to her and tried to protect her. Rem was considering killing Subaru, as she had in previous loops, which prompted, in part, Subaru’s kindness. As seen in previous loops, Subaru would have had a closer friendship with Ram had he not been aware of the fact that he needed to win Rem’s trust. However, Subaru’s desire to protect the mansion, the village, and their inhabitants was not prompted by any sort of ulterior motive. To Rem, both Subaru’s kindness and Subaru’s protection are unconditional. She is not aware of the previous loops that prompted Subaru’s attachment to her; to her, Subaru is a complete stranger.

Subaru’s attachment to Emilia starts because she was unconditionally kind to him, but ultimately becomes a coping mechanism. He puts Emilia on a pedestal because he needs a goal. Without this goal, he would go insane.

Rem and Subaru both respond similarly to rejection, albeit in slightly different circumstances. When Rem confesses to Subaru and he explains that he cannot return her feelings, she does not leave or grow angry. She accepts that the relationship will remain platonic. She does not move on, which would be the healthiest response, but she is content with their current relationship and does not push to change it.

When Emilia tells Subaru that she will be distancing herself from him (for good reason), Subaru does not react well at all. However, when Subaru later explains his feelings to Emilia and she explains that she does not return his feelings, his response parallels Rem’s. He is willing to wait for her to return his feelings, and even if her feelings do not change he is content with their current relationship.

There is an added parallel with Subaru and Rem where both are given the chance to attain the relationship they want and both refuse. Before Rem confesses to Subaru, Subaru asks Rem to run away with him—essentially, he asks for them to elope together. Rem refuses, citing that the Subaru she fell in love with would never do such a thing. This is the correct response, because Subaru is going through a mental breakdown that has been exacerbated by the fact that he’s been continually dying while watching basically everyone who is important to him violently die and/or violently kill him.

Subaru is, during arc 4, confronted with an Emilia who professes her love to him. Subaru’s immediate response is  _ something isn’t right _ , which proves to be correct, as Emilia is going through a mental breakdown that includes her violently murdering a whole bunch of people. Her mental breakdown is a result of her going through Echidna’s trial-of-trauma without any support system, as Puck is MIA and Subaru left her to deal with a whole bunch of other violent murderers in that loop.

  


_ SUBARU AND EMILIA _

Both Subaru and Emilia are in the position of having someone who is devoted to them, but not returning their feelings. Subaru does not return Rem’s romantic feelings because he is devoted to Emilia, and because Rem tortured and killed him at least twice so he’s probably pretty traumatized by her. Emilia does not return Subaru’s romantic feelings because he’s this really shady stranger who appeared out of nowhere but is, for some really badly explained reason, scarily devoted to her, and because he acts about as threatening as a drunk squirrel yet still has ties to the top murder-and-death group, the Witches’ Cult. Emilia also doesn’t return Subaru’s feelings because she doesn’t, which is perfectly valid because romance should not be an obligation.

  
_ EMILIA AND REM _

Emilia and Rem have similar issues, at least as explained in the anime. Both have been discriminated against due to their birth, and both have only one real friend or ally—Puck for Emilia and Ram for Rem. Both are approached by Subaru, who helps them and treats them nicely for no apparent reason. Rem becomes devoted to Subaru; Emilia does not.

The differences between Rem and Emilia’s reactions can be attributed to their respective allies and how Subaru treats them. Rem’s only ally/friend is her sister, who is devoted to Lord Roswaal (the creepy clown dude (but not Hisoka)). Emilia’s only ally is Puck, who starts the apocalypse when Emilia dies. While both Rem and Emilia have support systems that are approximately equal in size and reach, Emilia’s is noticeably more fervent in its support.

Subaru also treats Rem and Emilia differently. Subaru puts Emilia on a pedestal. He does not do this to Rem. This would result in Subaru talking to Rem about his trauma and stuff, but a) whenever Subaru tries to tell people about his trauma they die or he dies (and not in a ‘oh no i opened up about my feelings and then this person got hurt,’ way. in a ‘hey y’all did you know that i can return to a specific point in time by—HRK BLEGH *dead*’ way), and b) even if Subaru wanted to talk to Rem, immediately after she is established as a part of his support she gets stuck in a coma. Regardless of these facts, in the future it can be assumed that Subaru is willing to show Rem a side of himself that he would not show Emilia. When Rem is comatose, for example, he is shown monologuing at her to vent about his copious amount of trauma.

Returning to the topic of Emilia and Subaru treating her differently—Subaru is weirdly nice and devoted to Emilia as soon as he meets her, as far as she’s aware. While Subaru is weird to Rem, and very nice to her, he is not weirdly nice to her. Rem’s relationship with Subaru thus progresses at a more natural rate, as there is not the added element of ‘this is one really weird dude who is unhealthily obsessed with me and yeah, he’s really nice and helpful and is clearly going through some stuff, but also he just showed up and he’s sketchy as hell’. Even after Emilia gets used to Subaru’s eccentricities and theatrics, (all of which would look very strange from the perspective of someone who is not a modern-day teenager,) (and all of which still look pretty strange from the perspective of a modern-day teenage, cause Subaru is very extra,) her and Subaru’s relationship is strained because of Subaru’s dependency on her. Subaru uses Emilia as an excuse to make really bad decisions in front of A Whole Bunch of Really Important People—understandably, even after Emilia and Subaru have addressed the problem and Subaru is less dependent on Emilia, Emilia doesn’t express any romantic attraction towards him. However, as, at the end of season 1, Emilia respects Subaru and enjoys their friendship, she accepts Subaru as a friend and is willing to wait and see whether she does develop any romantic feelings towards him.

Emilia and Rem also have different backstories. Some parts of Emilia’s backstory are only thoroughly explained in the movie. Those parts were ignored, because at the time of this writing I have not watched the movie. (Having now read the book thingy, I can say that I have more questions than answers about those parts.) It can be assumed that those parts were fairly important, as there’s an official 2 hour movie about them.

  


_ CONCLUSION _

Re:Zero is an excellent show that explores many different themes. This is a ten-page essay solely about the romantic relationships of three of the characters in this show, and that is in no way the main focus of the show. Regardless, the relationships between Emilia, Subaru, and Rem are very well developed, with all of the characters acting as excellent foils to each other. Their relationships are often trivialized or mocked, as all of the romantic aspects are very one-sided. Due to the very nature of the relationships, mutual romantic relationships between any of the characters mentioned would not, at the time of this writing, be healthy—at best, the one or  both of the characters would be in a relationship out of obligation, and at worse the relationships would be dependent or codependent. To argue that the characters should have acted differently is to ignore the nuances of their interactions and to destroy the characterization. Instead, one should appreciate the depth of these characters and the fascinating way that they parallel each other.


End file.
